New Delhi: The fate of the crippling JD(S)-Congress led Karnataka government is likely to be decided on Monday with a trust vote in the assembly.
Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy appealed to the rebel lawmakers to return and ‘expose’ the BJP. On the other hand, Karnataka BJP chief BS Yeddyurappa exuded confidence that today ‘will be the last day of the Kumaraswamy government’ and said the Chief Minister was just trying to buy time.
Highlights
- Kumaraswamy on Sunday said he was “not trying to cling onto power”. “My only intention of seeking time for debate on trust vote is to let the entire country know how the BJP, which talks of morality, is trying to subvert the very principles of democracy as well as the constitution,” he said in a statement.
- Rebel lawmakers who are in a Mumbai hotel asserted they would not return and rejected allegations they were being held captive. “We thought this government will do good to the state but it did not happen. There is no question of our attending the assembly session tomorrow,” rebel JDS legislator K Gopalaiah said in a video.
- Two Independent Karnataka MLAs are going to move the Supreme Court seeking a direction for conducting a floor test forthwith in the state Assembly.
- “The news of Kumaraswamy being unwell and getting admitted in a city hospital is fake… being spread by those trying to topple the coalition government,” said the Chief Minister’s Office in a statement.
- Sixteen legislators – 13 from the Congress and three from JDS – have resigned in the last two weeks, and two independent legislators have withdrawn their support to the coalition government. One Congress rebel, Ramalinga Reddy, appears to have returned.
- If we talk about numbers, the ruling coalition had 118 members in the 224-member assembly. If the resignations of the 15 legislators are accepted, the government will be left with 101 members. Meanwhile, with the support of the two independents, the opposition BJP has 107 legislators, which is two more than the majority mark of 105.